Among his answers: Taxes might need to rise a little bit;
Medicare reform needs to start NOW, and a lot of liberals aren't
buying the CBO's analysis here.

Three alternate thoughts:

Medicare costs are making the red explode, because
healthcare costs are surging. That seems like a
tautology, but it's an important clarification. In terms of the
overall impact on the economy, the "entitlement" is a
distraction. The costs are going to be humongous whether the
government pays for them or the private sector does. If we want
to not see the red boom like that, then the underlying healthcare
inflation needs to be bent down.

It's still not clear what the "problem" is. The insinuation
is that deficits like that are unsustainable, but neither the
chart, nor Boehner actually make that case. Yes it's conventional
wisdom that deficits that large are a problem, but they might not
be.

The chart assumes a bit of a fantasy world, where healthcare
spending can grow like crazy (due to real growth and inflation)
and yet nominal GDP continues along this normal glide path. The
problem is, with healthcare getting that big, the denominator of
the deficit/GDP ratio would grow significantly, and the inflation
from healthcare would boost nominal GDP. Remember, these charts
are CBO budget baselines, not real macroeconomic forecasts.